ABSTRACT
Because drone technology is used in many different ways by a variety of maritime industries, with more potential uses in active development, this chapter is divided into three main sections dealing with three different physical strata of the use of drones: below the water; on the surface of the water; and above the water. Below the surface there is very little regulation of drone activity, and the right of coastal states to apply their laws to such activity is very unclear. There is considerable regulatory activity taking place in relation to autonomous and remotely controlled surface vessels, but this chapter shows that there are many important issues that simply have not yet been considered, but which may yet create legal obstacles to the successful implementation of the technology. Above the surface, this chapter seeks to showcase the challenges consequent upon the intersection between the possible application of aviation law and maritime law when drones are used above the water by, or for, maritime interests. It is argued that there is a lack of coordination between aviation regulators and maritime regulators, who have been following separate paths, and that there is an urgent need for harmonization of the two regulatory regimes and to address some of the diametrically opposed laws relevant to the use of drones (that is, “aviation”) in a “maritime” context.
